EX-OSU QB Fields has new home with Steelers
The Chicago Bears have traded quarterback Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the teams have announced.
The Steelers are sending the Bears a 2025 sixth-round pick that could become a fourth-round pick. Per ESPN’S Adam Schefter, the pick becomes a fourth-rounder if Fields plays 51% of the offensive snaps this season.
The trade comes one day after the Steelers traded 2022 first-round pick Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles. That move appeared to pave the way for free agent pickup Russell Wilson to start, but the Fields addition brings added intrigue to the Steelers’ offseason.
Even if the Pittsburgh job is indeed Wilson’s for 2024 – ESPN reported that was still the case – Fields, an Ohio State product who’s still just 25 years old, gives the Steelers a potential quarterback of the future. The 11th overall pick in 2021 showed occasional flashes of brilliance in his three seasons in Chicago.
Fields went 10-28 in his three seasons in Chicago, throwing for 6,675 yards and 40 touchdowns to 30 interceptions. He completed 60.3% of his passes. He also rushed 1,143 yards and eight touchdowns in 2022.
“Can’t say thank you enough to the city of Chicago for taking me in and embracing me,” Fields posted on social media. “Thank you to the entire Bears organization and ownership for allowing me the opportunity to be part of such a historic franchise. But most of all thank you to my all my brothers that I played with. You all were the reason I attacked each day the way I did.”
The Steelers will soon have to make a decision on Fields’ fifth-year option. If they don’t pick it up by the May 2 deadline (or agree to an extension), Fields will become a free agent after the 2024 season.
Through two seasons at Ohio State, Fields completed 68.4 percent of his passes for 5,373 yards with 63 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also ran for 867 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Fields finished 20-2 as a Buckeyes starter, the second-highest winning percentage by an OSU starting quarterback with at least 16 starts in his career. Only Rex Kern, who led Ohio State to a 25-2 stretch between 1968 and 1970, holds a better record.
Columbus Dispatch reporter Joey Kaufman contributed to this story.